[ozgirl]

If a person were to come to this site and was just interested in starting a cosmetic line (not formulating) with no experience in formulating we would most likely recommend that they consider private label. 

There are hundreds of colour cosmetics formulas available for free on sites such as UL Prospector. You need to work out what your book will offer that people can’t already get for free. Below are some questions to consider. 

Will you provide information on how to start a business and on the regulatory requirements? This varies from state to state and by country/region. 

Are these formulas that can be made at home or that need specialised equipment to manufacture? 

Have they been manufactured previously and stability tested? 

Are the raw materials readily available? This would be the advantage of working with a supplier as suggested above.

Are you interested in teaching the chemistry side of formulating or just providing formulas?

Good luck with your ebook. 

[ozgirl]

There is a statement in the discussion section of the CIR report for SLS that mentions the potential for damage to the “hair follicle” due to deposition of  SLS. I am wondering if this has been misquoted somewhere along the way and changed from ‘hair follicle’ to ‘hair’ and then repeated until it was just accepted as “fact”.

[ozgirl]

This formula would not be considered “Organic” according to any of Organic Certification groups. It may be considered “natural” but as this term has no real legal definition it is open to interpretation by your marketing department.

You will need to do a knockout experiment to work out what is causing the irritation. My guess would be to start with removing the extracts.

[ozgirl]

We also use it at up to 1% as supplied.

[ozgirl]

I can tell you my lab looks nothing like a “spaceship”.

If they are concerned with the appearance perhaps you could store samples in cupboards with doors so that they are not on “display”.

If they are keen to spend money just get better versions of things you actually will use. Maybe get a set of scales with 4 decimal places rather than 3 decimal places or with a high weight limit if you make large samples.

[ozgirl]

You need to convert your formula to percentages. Also only work in weight (g) not in volume (ml).

It sounds like there might be a problem with your calculations for scale up or possibly the difference in your manufacturing method.

If you provide some more information about the amounts used and your manufacturing method you might get more help.

[ozgirl]

According to CIR you can use it if it is formulated to be non-irritating.

https://www.cir-safety.org/sites/default/files/118_draft_dea_suppl4.pdf

Check with your supplier to determine if the grade of LABSA you have is suitable for personal care/cosmetic use.

But as others have said there are other more suitable surfactants for a hand wash.

[ozgirl]

The Benzyl Alcohol and Dehydroacetic acid preservative does discolour over time to give a yellow colour. Also definitely keep your pH below 6 for this preservative.

[ozgirl]

 @Perry LOL   

I just looked up the directions for use for the product mentioned above it looks like a standard shampoo to me.

“Apply to wet hair, lather and rinse. Repeat if necessary and follow with
a Schwarzkopf Professional Hyaluronic Moisture Kick treatment.”

No cat bath required

I think that you forgot step 5 @ngarayeva001 (5) Increase the price.

[ozgirl]

Grapeseed oil has a short shelf life and would definitely need an antioxidant. Any product you are going to sell should be preserved.

If you let us know which preservatives you have allergies to you this will help make suggestions.

[ozgirl]

We do a basic UV stability test by putting the sample on the window sill. If your product contains a dye this is important because many dyes are not UV stable.

[ozgirl]

Some essential oils can last for the shelf life you are describing but it will depend on your specific formula and the essential oils you choose.

Unfortunately you are at the point where you will just have to make some batches with your preferred options and do some stability testing.

[ozgirl]

In Australia, The Ethanol used for perfumery is PGF4 grade and is denatured with 0.25% Tertiary Butyl Alcohol.

Hope this helps.

[ozgirl]

SLMI is reasonably easy to use. It is often formulated with Taurate surfactants (e.g. Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate) and Cocamidopropyl betaine. Innospec sells a blend of these surfactants (Iselux Ultra Mild) but I found it was cheaper to create my own blend.

Here is some more information

http://www.innospecinc.com/assets/_files/documents/may_09/cm__1242896041_Iselux_v_7_2009.pdf

[ozgirl]

I had a quick look into PLA type plastics (on behalf of our marketing team) and couldn’t find one that had more than a 2 year shelf life for the container itself. So unless we wanted to buy containers in small batches and only have a one year shelf life on our products it wasn’t a great option for us.

I also couldn’t find much information in terms of chemical compatibility with these bioplastics.

[ozgirl]

The CDEA contains free diethanolamine (usually 4- 8%) so if you add extra LABSA you are actually neutralising this free DEA to give the DEA salt of LABSA. This is an acceptable way of achieving your final pH.

You could also just try reducing the NaOH rather than adding extra LABSA.

[ozgirl]

I played around with lemon scented tea tree essential oil as a potential fragrance in a couple of cleaning products but abandoned this when I found out that it is difficult to guarantee a constant supply. Apparently it is only harvested once a year. Also due to the high citral content it is prone to oxidation.

Also I imagine that the lemon scented tea tree would have different properties to standard TTO.

[ozgirl]

This product is probably incorrectly labelled and if you have measured the pH at 5.5 then it does not contain potassium cocoate.

My guess is that they started out with a product with those ingredients and a much higher pH and then changed the formula to make it a better product but have not changed the label.   

[ozgirl]

What temperature are you storing the product at. The melting point of PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil is around 30 C.

[ozgirl]

Glucosides are known to be sticky. I would recommend reducing your overall level of surfactants and see if that helps.

[ozgirl]

@cossci21 Alcoholic hand sanitisers contain about 60% ethanol and are definitely flammable.

Here is a link to one of Australia’s most popular alcoholic hand sanitisers that you can clearly see the dangerous goods flammable label on the back.

https://www.medsales.com.au/products/ego-aqium-antibacterial-hand-gel-1l-pump

If possible formulate your product to be non-flammable just to save on shipping.

[ozgirl]

This is an anionic emulsifier and will not be compatible with the cationic raw materials used in conditioners.

[ozgirl]

The GHS regulations allow for the flash point to be calculated and if the calculated flash point is more than 5 C away from the flash point limits it needs not be determined experimentally. This might be a good start to work out if your product is likely to be classified as flammable.

However, this calculated method may not be acceptable for transporting dangerous goods.You would need to check the DG regulations. There are also provisions for substances that do not sustain combustion in the DG regulations.

[ozgirl]

Check your local regulations because phenoxyethanol is generally limited to a maximum of 1% for cosmetics in most regions of the world.

[ozgirl]

I haven’t used the Polyox resins for cosmetic purposes but have used them in an industrial product. For this it was recommended to make a slurry of the Polyox resin in isopropanol and then add water to the slurry. This method worked well.

According to your TDS (page 6) this method of using alcohols or glycols to create a slurry of the resin should work much better than just using water alone.

Hope this helps